Friday 2 March 2012 18.03 EST
First published on Friday 2 March 2012 18.03 EST

The quintet of managers at the Premier League's pinnacle merely offered a collective scratching of heads at the apparent anomaly. Sir Alex Ferguson could only describe the avalanche of goals that has buried meetings of the top five this term as "unusual". Arsène Wenger puffed his cheeks and admitted he was flummoxed. Harry Redknapp opted to suggest the gap between those at the top had closed, even if that may suggest tighter tête-à-têtes. On the basis of established trends, the only freak result in Sunday's collision between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane would actually be a goalless draw.

The statistics tell the story. To date, the 14 Premier League matches between the top five have been a frenzy of 68 goals at the remarkable average of 4.86 per match. Offering some kind of context, those same clubs managed 42 in their 20 meetings last year, and 63 the campaign before. Chelsea losing 3-1 at Old Trafford hardly feels memorable when scorelines have veered from 8-2 to 3-5, and from 1-6 to 5-2. So much for the traditional cagey affairs where risk-taking is shunned with so much at stake. Arsenal's searing recovery from two goals down in last Sunday's north London derby was achieved against a Spurs side who appeared incapable of holding on to what they had. Naivety became the theme of the week given England's shortcomings against the Dutch, but it has been evident aplenty among the defending served up by the best in the Premier League.

Not that anyone should be complaining. The league will revel in the unpredictability of it all, playing on the reality that Arsenal can collapse so spectacularly against a vibrant United team who, within two months, can in turn be thrashed at home in the Manchester derby, enduring their worst home defeat since February 1955 in the process. Both André Villas-Boas and Wenger have noted extenuating circumstances in those two matches at Old Trafford. The Arsenal manager blamed his team's 8-2 loss on fatigue and, understandably, a rejigged and unfamiliar lineup that was duly ripped to shreds. "People forget that we conceded four goals in the last 20 minutes with 10 men on the pitch, having played for our [Champions League] lives three days before at Udinese," said Wenger. "We came back from Italy completely exhausted."

United too were depleted against City following Jonny Evans's dismissal, weariness eventually taking its toll in stoppage time when Edin Dzeko, twice, and David Silva inflated the visitors' tally for the afternoon to six. "Managers will reflect on the 'essence' of the games," said Villas-Boas. "In the 8-2, Arsenal were a side depleted by injuries. In the 1-6, it was 1-3 at 90 minutes. Even our 3-5 against Arsenal was 3-3 with six minutes to play and we felt we could go and win it still. In that game, at 3-4, Arsenal had three players not defending when we had eight men in the box looking for an equaliser. Those three players were so tired they stayed upfield, and the ball eventually rebounded to them and they scored a fifth. But attacking football is part of the British culture. Games like this should be the pride of English football, so we shouldn't try to stop that. Results like that reflect how chaotic the game is, and how beautiful it can be at the same time."

The attack-minded approach, where a José Mourinho Chelsea side might have been assured even at only 1-0 up, perhaps makes up for the reality that none of the top five seems naturally at ease when clinging to a slender lead. City have become more adventurous this term under Roberto Mancini, largely employing a solitary holding midfielder where last year they boasted at least a pair. Chelsea's management team had been charged with establishing a more free-flowing style that does not permit any of the suffocation of old, hence the oft-heard "high line" which can seem suicidal at times. Redknapp knows no other way, his teams traditionally a blur of forward-thinking intent, while injuries have denied Arsenal and United the reassuring presence of defensive regulars over time, making attack their best form of defence.

All five place onus on full-backs to charge down the flank, providing width and attacking thrust to the approach. They also even permit their nominal holding players – Alex Song, Gareth Barry, Scott Parker, for example, and even Michael Essien now that Oriol Romeu is more peripheral again at Chelsea – to venture upfield in support rather than mop up in a more conventional way. They trust in the quality of the forwards leading the line and creating in front of the opposing rearguard, and believe that, even against each other, their own ammunition will inflict the greater damage. Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have been guilty of chasing contests against fellow "contenders" which might have normally been written off and have been ruthlessly dismantled on the break. Early concessions can be cataclysmic. "If there are early goals, there's no way of holding back," Wenger said. "Teams really go for it. And the fact they have to take the handbrake off early, and that we have quality strikers in the league, is the only explanation I have [for the number of goals in these matches]."

Regardless, Tottenham can sit resplendent in third despite having shipped five times to City and Arsenal already, the first time they have conceded five or more goals in separate league games since 1992-93. United managed only three against them at Old Trafford back in August but the propensity for Sunday to be another goal glut, particularly given the eagerness to recover from derby defeat at the Emirates, is very real. "The big four never used to include City and Tottenham, did it?" Redknapp said. "So it has got tighter, and the games between these sides have become less predictable. Everyone involved is having more of a go."

The flipside of it all has been felt in European competition. The Premier League's best have forgotten the art, or lack the means, of strangling occasions and exerting proper control as they once did. Perhaps they have been seduced by Barcelona's glorious style, while lacking the knack, as yet, of retaining the ball as completely as the Catalans. Neither Manchester club clambered from their group. Arsenal and Chelsea were well beaten in the first legs of knockout ties against Italian opposition.

English clubs' recent successes in Europe have invariably been extracted when they were at their stingiest: United won a European Cup in 2008 after conceding only 22 league goals that year; Chelsea were European semi-finalists under Mourinho and Guus Hiddink, not Carlo Ancelotti who had urged a more expansive approach; Arsenal reached the 2006 showcase having secured 10 clean sheets en route. Such solidity feels long gone. Instead, the Premier League can bask in the attacking mayhem and hope the frenzy is maintained.